ISSUE 7 “

DECEMBER 2016 “ working together to achieve success

Connect the right school to grow in

CHILDREN IN THIS YEAR WE RAISED AN AMAZING £355! A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL NEED WHO CONTRIBUTED AND TOOK PART IN THE EVENT

in this issue YEAR 7 CASTLE MANIA LATEST HOUSE NEWS THAI BOXING CHAMP Also //page 3 //page 6 FIGHTING FIT // page 7 Connect Magazine - ISSUE 7

We were also extremely proud of the way that our THE HEADTEACHER students marked Remembrance Day. The pupils who played The Last Post around school were fantastic and Dear Parents/Carers, it was a wonderful way for everyone in the building to A very warm welcome to Issue 7 of pay their respects. Connect, the magazine for The Joseph We also had our two Celebration of Achievement Rowntree School. As ever, we have so Evenings which were great events that allowed us to many exciting things happening within the recognise the significant academic achievements of school that it is always a struggle to get our students across the school. all of them into our magazine. I hope you enjoy reading the latest edition of our We were delighted with our North Yorkshire Boccia magazine, and that it reflects what a vibrant and finals win - well done to Mr Cornforth and the students energised place our school is. involved! The Vaudeville team are busy rehearsing for our forthcoming production of Beauty and the Beast, which I would like to wish you a very happy Christmas and I we are all really looking forward to seeing. hope that you have a restful and peaceful break with family and friends. We have had a range of extra-curricular visits this term, such as sporting trips, a visit to see a major theatre Mr R. Crane – Headteacher production and our GCSE Sports Studies students working with World Champion Thai Boxer Rachael Mackenzie.

HEAD GIRL & HEAD BOY It is an honour and a privilege to accept the badges for Head Boy and Head Girl.

We feel very proud and very lucky to be representing the school in such a capacity. We will strive to continue the brilliant work of our predecessors, Jenny and Toby, who set an excellent example of how WELCOME to present as the student leadership.

Looking forward to the rest of the academic year, our aim is to encourage all students in the school to become involved with, and actively participate in, extra-curricular activities, something that we already do brilliantly in many areas. We will also continue to raise money for charities. We have already run successful events so far this year, and we are now striving to reach our aim of raising at least £5,000 to help those less fortunate than us.

We would once again like to thank the school for the opportunity we have been given. We are incredibly proud to represent the students in the school as the Head Boy and Head Girl for the 2016-17 academic year.

Phoebe Mountain & Jamie Davies

CELEBRATION OF ACHIEVEMENT

The School welcomed parents, staff and friends of the school to a wonderful evening of music and celebration of achievement in all its forms - year prizes, outstanding attainment, excellent exam performance, contributions to school life and to the community.

The school was very proud of all the students who had worked so very hard to achieve some fantastic exam results.

On Friday 18th November, Year 13 students returned for a celebration of their A Level success this summer. Students travelled from universities across the country to reunite and celebrate their achievements. page 2 THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE SCHOOL

REMEMBRANCE DAY & CONCERT

11th November was a very special day within the school this year. At 11am the 2-minute silence was held across the school to mark Armistice Day. At the end of the silence, the last post was performed in 3 different areas across our school by members of our brass ensemble.

On the 8th November we presented our annual Evening of Remembrance, raising money for the Royal British Legion. The evening included readings from our student council, music performances from soloists, melodies and vocal harmony, drama performances from Year 13, and dance from our Performing Arts students. The media department also took a full role in organising the footage for each performance, including an emotional film showing all those in school who have links to people in the armed services. Our evening began and ended with a performance of the last post. Overall, £345.50 was raised through ticket sales and refreshments, all of which was donated to the Royal British Legion, Poppy Appeal.

Mrs R. Clarke – Assistant Headteacher: Raising Achievement Key Stage 3

CASTLE MANIA SWEEPS YEAR 7

Members of Year 7 have been studying castles this term. The starting point was the development of castles after William of Normandy took control of England following the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Subsequent lessons focused on the evolution of castle design and then strategies of attack and defence.

Year 7 were then let loose for their homework and had 2 weeks to create a piece of work on Medieval Castles. The creations that were presented on the different deadline days were amazing; a massive thank you has to be conveyed to both the students for their hard work and commitment and to those families who saw their kitchens destroyed and all manner of resources and materials consumed in the creative melee that followed the homework being set!

We had motte and bailey models, stone square keeps, concentric castles, scenic dioramas, videos (including some shot on location at Clifford’s Tower and Sheriff Hutton) and some wonderfully considered board games. One class saw a ‘Bake Off’ style castle carnival as edible and historically accurate castles took centre stage. Josh Freer even wrote a song and performed it ‘live’ with his guitar.

On this page you will see a smattering of pictures and apologies for anyone’s work that doesn’t feature, rest assured, everyone received merit stamps and personalised feedback following their gargantuan efforts.

Thanks again for everyone’s support.

Mr Hatch

page 3 Connect Magazine - ISSUE 7

AMERICAN EXCHANGE

This summer it was my pleasure to oversee our school’s annual exchange with Del Oro High School in Loomis, California, USA. After our students and parents had been magnificent hosts to the American students in July, we enjoyed three weeks of great hospitality on the far side of ‘the pond’.

The group of fourteen students who attended were superb ambassadors for the school. They tried their hand at everything and had a great attitude throughout the whole of the trip. Activities were varied and thoroughly enjoyable but, as ever, the three highlights were the Yosemite trip, white- water rafting on the American River and the visit to Alcatraz. Whatever I tried to write here about the four days in Yosemite just wouldn’t do it justice. It has to be seen to be believed. I’d like to take this opportunity to offer my most sincere thanks to all at Del Oro, and in particular Mr Greg Kelderman, who makes the Yosemite visit such an unforgettable experience for our students.

Other events included watching a Sacramento Rivercats’ baseball game, a tour of the Capital building, visits to Lake Fulsom and Lake Clementine, a day at Sunsplash Water Park, a tram ride over the hills of San Francisco, time in school and, of course, some much needed shopping time. We rounded off a perfect trip with a delicious meal at the Cheesecake Factory overlooking Union Square in San Francisco.

Many, many thanks to Mrs Aldred and Miss Crossley for all of their help and support in running the exchange and making this event so memorable for all who were involved.

Mr Ireton

COSTA RICA

It’s 4:45 am and an unholy, booming roar rains down At night, I took part in turtle surveys, patrolling the local beach from the treetops. They are the calls of howler monkeys, in the darkness looking for the asymmetrical flipper-prints of large and sluggish creatures known to be the world’s Olive Ridley sea turtles that had clambered out of the waves to loudest terrestrial animals. A group of twelve sits in lay around 70 eggs in the black volcanic sand. Whilst laying, we could measure the size of the turtles, check for injuries or the branches above my dorm among a kaleidoscope of radio tags and then carefully move the eggs if they were laid birds: macaws, toucans, tanagers, manakins, antbirds, somewhere where the nest might be flooded. Then, we would all shrieking and tweeting to welcome the rising sun. cover the nest area and tracks to prevent turtle egg poachers This is called the dawn chorus, and it makes sleeping in from taking them. On a clear night, the lack of light pollution past five incredibly difficult. allows breath-taking views of the Milky Way. On a stormy night, the pitch black of night is fragmented by terrific lightning, even I was fortunate enough to spend the month of August when it is not yet raining. volunteering in the Osa Peninsula, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Flying via Miami to San José, I landed after dark and spent As someone so captivated by the natural world, this experience my first night in Central America in a sleepy hostel. When I woke, was better than anything I could have hoped for. I saw so many the morning light revealed densely forested mountains fringing species of animal that I’ve only before seen in books or zoos. the city that ascended far further into the coral-coloured sky than At any time, a pair of binoculars would allow me to see a baby the clouds would allow me to see. This was my first glimpse of capuchin or squirrel monkey burying its head into its mother’s the rainforest I’d longed to explore for so many years. fur. Turning my head downwards would reveal a train of leafcutter ants proudly carrying their findings back to the nest. Three steps My volunteering project was in wildlife conservation just outside away from my bed brought me face-to-face with geckos that had Corcovado National Park, collecting data about the local wildlife eyes so meticulously patterned they could hold galaxies. When by completing surveys in the evenings and early mornings. After night falls, fireflies glow like embers thrown into the air and the taking a tiny plane and a bumpy colectivo ride to the small intimidating silhouette of the jungle trees is alive with the electric village of Carate, near camp, I settled into the choking humidity buzzing of cicadas. and venomous spiders to begin my work. Amphibian and reptile surveys were one of my favourites; from the track, you can see It gave me confidence in travelling alone and memories to last black and spiny-tailed iguanas basking in the trees, colourful me a lifetime. poison dart frogs sitting in the leaf litter and page 4 basilisks sprinting down the path in front of you. Amy Berry – Year 13 THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE SCHOOL

SIXTH FORM NEWS my networking skills and commercial awareness as we moved around the departments seeing how each area of the law worked. Alice Robinson, currently in Year 13, took up an The second week was spent at varying companies including opportunity last summer offered by a former Joseph Leeds Rhinos and the ITV Studios. In this week we learnt about each business and how the law affects the daily running of their Rowntree student, now working in the legal profession. company. Throughout both weeks I learnt so many things that I This is just one example of the type of opportunities that would never have otherwise, including how to become successful we offer to our Sixth Form students. Alice has written in the legal profession. After the experience we were taken on an the following account of her experience. all-expenses paid trip to London to meet with others from all over England who had also taken part in the scheme. I was lucky enough to take part in the highly competitive “Leeds Legal Social Mobility Programme, part of a national If law is something that you are interested in doing in the future alliance of law firms known as PRIME. This was a two-week I cannot recommend this scheme enough. It has given me some scheme which allowed me to experience legal work in different amazing experiences and great names to write on my CV and companies. university personal statement. For the first week we were at the private law firm Squire Patton Boggs which specialises in commercial and company law. This week really helped me to decide that law was something I Alice Robinson wanted to take further to degree level. It also helped to build – Year 13 ”

YORKSHIRE SCULPTURE PARK KING LEAR

On Tuesday, 15th November, a group of Year 8 and 9 boys had the opportunity to work with published writer James Nash. The trip was a fantastic opportunity for the boys to visit the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and produce some creative writing about the exhibits there.

The students had a wonderful time listening to each other’s ideas and moulding and shaping their own ideas in an interesting environment and will continue to work on their pieces back at school. The poem below is a poem written from one of the sculpture’s points of view. The sculpture was by an artist called Joan Miro.

Initial Work: The exciting new A Level English Literature Maybe my life has no meaning, specification focusses on Aspects of Tragedy Except, maybe, to entertain people in general and drama in particular. With the creativity of how I look; No one will understand how I feel, In October 2016 the whole of the A Level English To not be loved, to be laughed at Literature cohort, both Year 12 and Year 13, were By other sculptures. lucky to be able to see King Lear, Shakespeare’s very The shape of my face is my face - dark tragic masterpiece, beamed live from Stratford- So why will you laugh? upon-Avon to City Screen in . Your life is your life, so leave me, The trip gave us the opportunity to develop a far Leave me in peace. deeper understanding of the play and see the Tom Chambers – 8GKE tensions between Lear’s evil daughters, Goneril and Regan, and his loyal youngest daughter, Cordelia. The performance of Antony Sher as Lear was breath- taking as was the staging and setting and students commented that it had really deepened their insight into the play.

As a fresh new specification we have the opportunity to give students a wide variety of enhancements to the curriculum and in 2017 an RSC-trained theatre director from York Theatre Royal will be coming in to run a director’s workshop with Year 12 and Year 13 students on King Lear and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller to help them appreciate these texts as drama’s, rather than as written texts. page 5 Ms Edgar – KS5 English Co-ordinator Connect Magazine - ISSUE 7

This years’ Inter-House Sudoku was the biggest INTER-HOUSE competition the school has held yet. SUDOKU 2016 Just over 100 pupils and staff attempted the Championship Sudoku puzzle this year. Miss Gatherer led Temple very well and finished in 4th place in the Staff competition and Mr Brierley also finished in the top 10. However, it was Mrs Foster who was most pleased as Seebohm won the overall House Prize. Head of Year 8, Mr Day, won the staff prize (again!)

Well done to the following who were the best individuals in their year: Ryan Cohen 7DAB, Martha Jones 8JS, Sam Gough 9JSP, Elizabeth Massey 10MH, Alex Powell 11HS.

Thank you to all participants who contributed to their House, you were amazing.

House News... Mr Bowry

...AROUND THE HOUSES

WILBERFORCE has had made an outstanding start to the new school year! We are all incredibly proud of the huge contribution that was made by each form group in the House Quiz and in the form time quizzes so far. A huge thank you and congratulations also goes out MORRELL have had an excellent start to the school year, to the great number of students who took part in Mr Bowry’s Sudoku following on from what was a very successful end to the Challenge. We are also looking forward to the House Film Club this competitions before the summer holidays. Inter-Form quizzes December to raise money for the homeless this Christmas. are taking place and this has been added in with an Inter- House Assembly Quiz where Morrell scored very highly, well Mr Hutchinson – Head of Wilberforce done! The winning form from the assembly quiz was 11CK.

Inter-House Sudoku had a fantastic turn out. Sadly, we On the 5th October 2016 TEMPLE House organised a bake narrowly missed out on top spot. sale to raise money for ActionAid. A massive thank you for the Keep up the fantastic effort Morrell! tremendous efforts of several very generous and talented students who baked an overwhelming amount of cakes, biscuits and Mr Brierley – Head of Morrell brownies for the bake sale. Sarah Carr-Brion in Year 12 organised and co-ordinated the whole event, helping Temple House to raise £85.20. A fantastic start to the House charity competition. Sarah has also launched a “loose change money jar” challenge SEEBOHM have shown their mathematical mastery in the for the tutor groups in Temple House. The results of this charity House Sudoku Challenge. Here we had the highest participants competition will be announced in the next Connect Magazine. and some of the quickest puzzlers in the school, with all 22 entries completing the challenge within 15 minutes (the staff Well done Temple! did pretty well too). Miss Gatherer – Head of Temple We continue to show our pride for the house by suggesting fun events, charity appeals and high attendance within all tutor groups. A big shout out to 9JSP, 10MMA and 11PRB for their fantastic weekly picture quiz results-rewards will be coming soon.

Another event taking place is the Bottle Flip Challenge. Here students have a chance to get the craze out of their systems and put an end to the madness for the teachers! All entry proceeds will go to the Yorkshire Teenage Cancer Trust. I’m sure this project will propel Seebohm to take the lead.

Keep it up Seebohm!

Mrs Foster page 6 – Head of Seebohm THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE SCHOOL

LORD TAVERNER’S Sport News... U19s BOCCIA FINALS

On the 15th November I took two teams to represent the school and York to the Lord Taverner’s North Yorkshire U19s Boccia Finals, held at Poppleton Community Centre.

The Joseph Rowntree “A” Team got all the way to the final where they beat Welburn school 4-2. They didn’t lose a match all through the tournament and only dropped 4 shots beating Applefields 6-0, Welburn 5-0 and The Dales 9-0. In the semi-finals they were drawn against Joseph Rowntree “B” team which they won 3-2. It was sad they had to meet each other in the semi-finals but at least it guaranteed the school would be in the final.

We will now go onto the Yorkshire Finals which will be held in March 2017. I am so proud that the school are now North Yorkshire Champions in both The Panathlon and Boccia. The students were fantastic and it was great to see parent’s and families coming along to support, it was much appreciated. Well done to all!

Mr B. Cornforth

CROSS COUNTRY

Cross Country was attended by students from Year 7 to 10, competing against a wide range of schools from Yorkshire.

A cold, wet and generally miserable day ensured students had to show courage and resilience in the face of these conditions with all representing our school with aplomb. Many of whom did so well that they have been invited to the next competition finals.

Mr J. Mash

WORLD CHAMP’ THAI BOXER GETS STUDENTS FIGHTING FIT

Year 10 GCSE Sports Studies students had a morning’s session with World Champion Thai Boxer Rachael Mackenzie. The students are involved in a scheme called ‘Living in Sport’ by . Rachael on this visit introduced the six keys to success which have been developed in partnership with the British Athletes Commission.

The six keys to success are: 1. Mental toughness 2. Hunger to achieve 3. People skills 4. Sports and life knowledge 5. Breaking barriers 6. Planning for success

They are designed to help young people develop valuable life skills that will help them in and outside of school, now and into the future. Rachael also delivered a taster session of Thai boxing which the students all thoroughly enjoyed and got fully engaged with.

In the New Year, Rachael will be back in school for a full day to help the students plan their project which is to help run this year’s High 5 Netball Tournament and Rounders Tournament with our cluster primary schools.

Mrs J. Parker page 7 MAN UTD V FENERBAHCE

On 20th October, myself and Mr Ayres took the Year 11 Football team to watch the Manchester United versus Fenerbahce in the UEFA Europa League game at Old Trafford.

This visit was part of the Manchester United offer to schools which allows students to see high quality football at discounted prices. Thankfully we saw five goals and a rare Manchester United win! The scheme also allowed the Year 9 and Year 10 teams to have a similar experience for the Capital One Cup Quarter-Final against West Ham United, the current team of former Joseph Rowntree School student Sam Byram. Sadly, Sam missed the game through injury, but it was another excellent evening all the same.

Mr Ireton

MILITARY POLICE VAUDEVILLE NEWS The Military Police visited The Joseph Rowntree School to work with students thinking about a – BE OUR GUEST! career in the armed forces.

The school welcomed members of the armed forces into school and they ran a Crime Scene Investigation activity for students in Year 10 and 11. We look forward to hosting the Royal Engineers in January. Rehearsals are now under way for Joseph Mr G. Davies Rowntree Schools next Vaudeville Production Beauty and the Beast, which will take place Community... in the school theatre in February.

Over 150 students are involved in the show right from Year 7 to Year 13. The role of Belle will be played by Year 11 Performing Arts student Lucy HARTRIGG OAKS Scruton and Beast by Sixth Form student Ethan CALLIGRAPHY Peck. Tickets will go on sale in January. Please SOCIETY contact the school for further details.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

Our supplier is GET BRANDED based at Green Lane, Clifton YO30 5PY. The shop is open Monday to Saturday. In November, we were Call them on 0800 1244 133 or order online at pleased to welcome www.josephrowntreeuniforms.co.uk with delivery members of the Hartrigg Oaks Calligraphy Society who kindly options available. came in to school and did a workshop with Year 10 students showcasing the art of Calligraphy. Dates for your diary!

16th Dec End of term – School finishes at 12:20pm 4th Jan Start of Spring term 19th Jan Year 9 Options Evening Contact us... 3rd–4th Feb Design trip to London 13th–16th Feb Beauty & The Beast Production T 01904 552100 E [email protected] 17th Feb Break up for Half-term the right school to grow in W josephrowntree.co.uk Design & Print by 40twenty Design 01904 625652 / 40twenty.co.uk